I first saw Newcastle United play on the 20th October 1956, at home to Manchester City, taken by my dad and sitting on the wall at the Popular side with my cousin alongside, writes Bob Day

I had heard of Jackie Milburn, Ronnie Simpson, Jimmy Scoular and Bobby Mitchell, but not a player called Len White. I didn’t know about him.

So I had to wait until Boxing Day 1956, at home to West Bromwich Albion, to see him play and we won 5-2. I can’t recall much about him, but he was soon to make a lasting impression.

The first goal I saw him score was against Chelsea on Good Friday 1957. It was to be his first of many.

The legend that was Jackie Milburn had left the club in the summer of 1957 and during the following season a new hero wearing the number nine shirt was to emerge. Len did not start that season at centre forward, that position was filled by Vic Keeble, and it wasn’t until mid-November that Len took over the role as the regular centre forward.

I started going regularly about March of that season when a 5-3 victory over Leicester City was recorded and Len got a hat-trick. My first hero was born.

It was a few home games later when I believe Len really began his entry into Newcastle folklore with a wonderful goal against Manchester City. Many fans of my age, when I talk to them about Len, can recall it.

It was probably the game that secured our First Division status and I’m sure it was the first time Newcastle had played under the new floodlights, which stood tall like beacons over the city. The crowd was a massive 53,280. It was a wonderful 4-1 victory. The atmosphere, the noise and the support from the crowd was just fabulous. There was nowhere better in the world. Sitting on the wall at the front of The Leazes End, rattle waving, I joined in with all the gusto I could. Newcastle took an early lead through Reg Davies only for City to equalise before half time.

Ken McKenzie, the Newcastle reporter for The Journal, described Newcastle’s second goal.

“A solo dribble by Len White from 15 yards inside his own half ending with a great 12-yard shot into the net past the advancing Bert Trautmann, the best goalkeeper in football, made memorable the burial of the relegation blues in the St James’ Park floodlights last night. The crowd of 53,280 cheered a back to form Newcastle off the field for a stirring show.”

McKenzie also wrote “that first White goal was one which Jackie Milburn and Hughie Gallagher would have envied,” a great compliment from an excellent reporter who, as well as seeing Jackie play, had probably watched Gallagher as well.

Season 1958/59 saw Newcastle United appoint an official manager for the first time, Charlie Mitten, and hopefully last season’s struggle against relegation would be a distant memory, and in reality it was.

We had lost out first two games of the season, had won our third at Everton and were at home to Blackpool in our second home game. In a hard, exciting game, Len returned to the side and scored with a wonderful header midway through the second half at the Gallowgate End to win it for us 1-0.

Though not tall, Len was an excellent header of the ball and scored many fine headers in his time at St James’.

Later in the season at home to Everton, the team gave a fine display to win 4-0. Len robbed an Everton player of the ball and ran from the centre circle beating a couple of players and added a third.

The crowd were ecstatic and I can remember an Everton player patting him on the back to say well done. I couldn’t see that happening today.

In this, his first full season at centre forward, Len made 31 appearances and scored 25 goals, a fine effort at any level. This would probably have been more but he missed the final nine games of the season through injury.

Season 1959/60 saw Len build his reputation even more. We weren’t doing particularly well in the league in the first few months of the season, but in early November we were at home to Everton.

Again many fans of my age will remember this game with great pride and pleasure because it came completely out of the blue and is down in Newcastle United folklore, an 8-2 victory over Everton.

It was watched by only 23,727, the lowest crowd of the season but the attack led by Len White was devastating and Everton had no answer to our attacks. We were 4-0 up at half time, Len finishing up with a hat-trick.

The second game was in early January 1960 against Manchester United. I sat on the wall at the front of the Gallowgate End. What was to unfold was the most magical game and Newcastle performance which even surpassed the Everton game.

A thrilling, flowing game was won by Newcastle, 7-3. Newcastle led 3-1 at half-time and scored a further four times down in the Leazes End in the second half. The atmosphere was electric and the old ground heaved with passion and excitement. Len scored a hat-trick and now there was a lot of talk about him being capped by England. Some hope. There used to be an old Sports Special programme on BBC on a Saturday evening and this game was one of three featured. Sadly in 1960 we didn’t have video recorders or such things we have today and I don’t suppose the footage is in the BBC archives, which is a pity.

Later in the season Len was to score a fabulous individual goal against Wolverhampton Wanderers who were at that time favourites to win the First Division title.

Amazingly, Mitten had moved Len to outside left for the final few games of the campaign but it didn’t stop Len from scoring the goal of the season.

Len cutting in from the left wing hit a screamer of shot into the top right-hand corner that was in and out of the net before the Wolves goalie could move. I can still see it whizzing in now.

Sadly Len’s season and basically his career came to an awful end at Tottenham Hotspur on March 22, 1961.

Spurs were going for the double, while we were fighting a relegation battle in 19th position, two places above the relegation zone.

Newcastle probably turned in their best performance of the season, turning a 1-0 half-time deficit into a 2-1 victory.

We didn’t find out the dreadful news that Len had been severely injured by an awful tackle by Dave Mackay, which was to end his season, until the following morning when reading the newspaper reports.

By all accounts it was a brutal challenge and legendary Spurs manager Bill Nicholson is reported to have said he did not give Mackay instructions to tackle any player like that.

Effectively that injury condemned Newcastle to relegation as goals in the next six games dried up, only four being scored. I am sure if Len had been fit, relegation would have been avoided. I think the statistics that Len scored 28 goals in 33 games back up that argument.

Len was never the same after the injury. He returned for the second game of the new season in Division Two at home to Walsall.

He was playing outside right and when he came across to the touchline to take up his position at the start of the game he got a wonderful reception from the crowd. Two minutes into the game he was presented with a glorious chance to score but drove wide. A fit Len would have buried it.

It is fitting that Len’s last goal for the club was scored against Sunderland in December 1961, a lovely drive along the ground into the Gallowgate net to give us a 1-0 lead in a game that eventually finished 2-2.

He left to join Huddersfield Town in exchange for Jimmy Kerray. He scored 153 goals in 270 appearances, including six hat-tricks and I had the privilege of seeing four of them.

Good Friday 1963 saw Len return to St James’ when playing at inside right for Huddersfield Town.

Unlike today where there is polite applause for returning players at the end of the game, when Len first touched the ball in this game there was a loud spontaneous roar from the crowd in recognition of a returning hero. Len, again at inside right, ran us ragged in a 2-1 win for his team.

I saw Len play one last time. It was for Huddersfield reserves against Newcastle reserves in an old Central League game, one cold, wet afternoon during the 1963/64 season.

I can’t remember the result but I do remember a wag on the Popular Side when Len failed to stop a ball going out for a throw in shouting “howway Lenny, a few years ago you would have caught that.”

Len looked up and laughed and the few of us on the Popular Side laughed with him.

Len was never given a testimonial by the club, which was a shame, and I quote from Alan Duncan’s excellent column in the fanzine Black and White Daft.

“In October 1989 Len White was to make one last appearance on a football pitch in his adopted homeland. As an illustration of the respect the region has for him, a dedicated group of Newcastle United fans arranged a much-deserved testimonial match for Len at (much to Newcastle United’s shame) Whitley Bay’s Hillheads Ground.

“More than 27 years after he had left Newcastle around 2,000 fans who had never forgotten this wonderful footballer turned up to pay their respects. The great Ivor Allchurch came up from his home in Wales to play for his friend and former colleague one last time.”

Len sadly died in June 1994 aged 64. It was my privilege to see this footballer play. My first hero and my all-time favourite player. A true Newcastle United legend.